Simon studied with a huge range of drummers in the US, Australia and Korea. Since 1990 he has performed regularly throughout Australia, Europe, Asia and the US. He has produced a large collection of solo drumming recordings and over the past 20 years he has been involved in numerous ongoing collaborative projects including Chiri (trio with Bae il Dong and Scott Tinkler), Showa 44 (duo with Carl Dewhurst), duo with Scott Tinkler, and most recently, a duo with saxophonist Hinano Fujisaki.

He has also played regularly with many of Australia’s most established ensembles including the Phil Slater Quintet, Matt McMahon trio, the Australian Art Orchestra, Vince Jones,  Paul Grabowsky sextet, Cameron Undy’s 20th Century Dog, Stu Hunter, as well as various groups led by Scott Tinkler. Over the past few years Simon has collaborated with numerous local and international artists including Jen Shyu, Gian Slater, Kim Hyelim, Chris Hale, Tony Malaby and Kris Davis, Jo Jonghun and Lim Mijeong (Byeolsinak), Mary Rapp and Carl Dewhurst, as well as with Henry Kaiser, Bill Laswell, and Rudresh Mahanthappa. 

Piotr Turkiewicz is an experienced music curator and artistic director with nearly 20 years in the field. Since 2008, he has been the Artistic Director of the Jazztopad Festival in Wroclaw, Poland, where he pioneered new music commissions and expanded the festival internationally, including an annual New York edition starting in 2014. Piotr has also served as Curator of Jazz and Contemporary Improvised Music at the Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin since 2018 and became the guest curator at De Singel in Antwerp in 2024.

Piotr’s broad leadership experience extends into key global arts organizations. From 2012 to 2020, he served on the Board of Directors of the International Society for the Performing Arts (ISPA), where he co-chaired the Program Committee and chaired Pitch New Works. Additionally, Piotr was Vice-President of the Europe Jazz Network from 2014 to 2018.  

A frequent speaker at prestigious international conferences, Piotr has presented at the ISPA Congress in Toronto and Bogota, a seminar at The Juilliard School in New York, the Asian Performing Arts Festivals in Shanghai, and the Live! Conference in Singapore.  

Cheryl L’Hirondelle (Cree/Halfbreed; German/Polish) is an award-winning interdisciplinary artist, singer/songwriter and critical thinker with family roots from Papaschase First Nation / amiskwaciy wāskahikan and Kikino Metis Settlement. 

Andria Hickey is a curator, writer, and strategic advisor. She is currently Head of Programs at Shorefast and Fogo Island Arts. Andria’s curatorial research and practice is focused on cross-disciplinary experimentation, socially engaged art, and contemporary approaches to abstraction in the digital age. She is inspired by the intersections of art and ecology, civic engagement and art in the public realm. 

Prior to joining Shorefast, Andria oversaw the visual art program at The Shed, NY, and was previously global Senior Director and Curator at Pace Gallery from 2018 to 2022, where she established a new curatorial team and initiated the live arts program Pace Live. Before joining Pace, she was Senior Curator at MOCA Cleveland. Hailing from St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada, Andria earned her BA from Memorial University and an MA in Canadian Art History from Concordia University in Montreal. She moved to the United States in 2007 for a role in the Visual Arts Department at the Walker Art Center, where she was a curatorial fellow until 2010. Moving on to New York, she was Curator of Art in General in New York and later appointed Curator at the Public Art Fund where from 2011-2016, she organized public art exhibitions and new commissions throughout New York City. 

In addition to her curatorial work, Andria is a strategic advisor to artists, cultural foundations, philanthropists, and arts institutions. She has lectured broadly, and her written work has been published in a wide variety of journals and exhibition catalogues. 

Andria lives in upstate New York and spends time on Fogo Island whenever she can.

Brandee Caoba is an artist, curator, and cultural activist based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Her work explores the intersection of art and social change, using storytelling to spark dialogue, raise political awareness, and challenge conventional ways of seeing and thinking. 

Since 2016, Caoba has curated over forty exhibitions and projects at SITE SANTA FE, a contemporary art space known for its experimental programming. She has collaborated with internationally recognized artists and curators, as well as emerging voices, focusing on work that boldly addresses urgent environmental, social, and cultural issues. 

Her curatorial approach is both critical and responsive, shaping exhibitions that confront global challenges such as climate change, migration, displacement, border policies, gun violence, trans* rights, mass incarceration, and feminist movements.  Prioritizing the voices and visions of the artists she works with, Caoba creates dynamic, thought-provoking spaces where diverse ideas converge. Her exhibitions function as sites of transformation—where art acts as a catalyst for dialogue, healing, reflection, and change. 

Over the past decade at SITE SANTA FE, Caoba has developed expertise in commissioning ambitious new artworks, public installations, performances, and programs, shaping projects that engage with the complexities of contemporary experience. Recent curatorial projects include Dakota Mace: DAHODIYINII—SACRED PLACES (2025), Harmony Hammond: FRINGE (2025), Cassils: Movements (2024), Carmen Herrera: I’m Nobody, Who Are You? (2024), Nicholas Galanin: Interference Patterns (2023), and Jeffrey Gibson: The Body Electric (2022). She is also the organizing curator for the 12th SITE Santa Fe International, Once Within a Time, opening in June 2025 and curated by Cecilia Alemani.

Matthew Wyllie is a dancer and musician originally from Vancouver, BC. He graduated from Modus Operandi Contemporary Dance Program and continued to train and freelance in the Vancouver dance scene. Matthew began playing in bands, where he wrote music, recorded music, and toured nationally. As his dance career began to flourish he had to pause full time music to further pursue dance. Matthew has had the opportunity to dance professionally with Mascall Dance, Joshua Beamish/MOVETHECOMPANY, Kinesis Dance, Mahaila Patterson-O’Brien, Vision Impure, Emmalena Fredriksson, Vancouver Opera, ADARTE Compagnia, Wen Wei Dance, and Ballet Edmonton. Through these opportunities, Matthew has performed across the country and internationally. In 2021, Matthew moved his home base to Edmonton, AB to join Ballet Edmonton. Matthew loves the creative process and is exploring his Choreographic voice. He finds it exciting and nerve-wracking as it requires risk and trust and can be full of surprises.

Ben was born in Burnaby, BC. He began tap dancing at age two, which led to him training and competing around BC in many styles of dance. At 16, Ben joined Arts Umbrella’s dance program under the direction of Artemis Gordon. He was an inaugural member of the Ballet BC Performance Project (2021/22) and then joined Ballet BC as an Emerging Artist for the following season under the direction of Medhi Walerski. Ben moved to Edmonton to join Ballet Edmonton as a company artist in 2023. He is also a musician, composer, and resident composer for Arts Umbrella. Ben has composed for Ballet BC, Ethan Colangelo, The National Ballet of Canada, and many more. 

Born in Mococa-SP, Brazil, Diego Ramalho’s beginning in dance was in Breakdance and Brazilian capoeira. In his teens, he was persuaded to enroll in formal ballet training at Kleine Szene in Santo André-SP, Brazil. In 2013, Diego was invited to be a member of Coastal City Ballet Company in Vancouver, BC, where he performed leading roles in full-length ballets such as Swan Lake, Giselle, Cinderella and Coppelia. Diego has been a guest artist in productions across Canada, USA and Brazil and has worked with creators such as Andrea Peña, Joshua Beamish, Shay Kuebler, Dorotea Saykaly, Ethan Colangelo, Kirsten Wicklund, to name a few. He joined Ballet Edmonton in 2018 and has been exploring his choreographic voice under the mentorship of Wen Wei Wang. His recent work “Valei-me” has been presented for audiences across Canada, including the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, as part of the company’s 2023 e-motion tour.

Raised in Vancouver, BC, Devon (she/her) received her training at Arts Umbrella and graduated from the post-secondary dance program under the direction of Artemis Gordon. Devon expanded on her foundational training in summer programs at The Royal Ballet School, Canada’s National Ballet School, and l’École supérieure de ballet du Québec. In 2022, she participated in the Ballet BC Annex Program, performing and teaching outreach workshops  throughout BC. She is a proud recipient of the BC Arts Council Scholarship and the McCall MacBain Cultural Leadership Award. Devon has had the opportunity to research and perform works by esteemed artists including Crystal Pite, Medhi Walerski, Marco Goecke, Sidi Larbi Cerkaoui, Shay Kuebler, Ihsan Rustem, Dorotea Saykaly, Ethan Colangelo, James Gregg, and Wen Wei Wang. Devon joined Ballet Edmonton in 2022 and is thrilled to continue exploring human connection through movement development.